The Invention of Sound

The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk   240 pages

A 7 year old girl is abducted by a 12 year old girl caught on camera and the child is never seen again.   Her father has been searching for her for 17 years.   He has gone so far as to troll kiddie porn websites to see if he sees his daughter on any of them.   He attends a group of fathers who's children have been murdered but he doesn't accept her death as inevitable since she has not been found, yet.  He openly accuses child molestors he sees out in public to protect any would be victims.   Sadly people mistake him for a pervert because of his obsession and constant perusal of verbotten websites and groups.   On a movie set a woman is obsessed with the realistic screams used in movie soundtracks to elicit genuine emotions and make the films memorable.   She has her own collection of these realistic screams made by both men and women, adults and children.  And why does she only want sex with someone who will torture her?   Lots of people come up missing around her for some reason, too.   These two people - the father looking for his daughter and the woman searching for pain beyond belief are about to meet and the sparks that fly lead to an outcome that you will need to read to feel the intensity.  Whew!  So many difficult subjects are covered in this hard to read without being haunted by it, story.   Not a book for the young, a way serious topic delivered as brutally as the acts mentioned themselves.   For fans of true crime media I think this tale will impress.

- Shirley J.

Where Are the Children?

 Where Are the Children?  by Mary Higgins Clark   223 pages

While living in California a woman's two kids go missing.   She is later brought up on charges of murdering them and serves time in the penitentiary for it.   When let out on a technicality she decides to run away from all the sorrow her life in Cally brought her and goes completely across country to start a new life in Cape Cod.   Some years pass and she meets a new man, falls in love, marries and eventually has two more kids.   Life is good no one including new hubby knows about her dark past and the murders but on the anniversary of the deaths of her first two children an article appears in the local newspaper about her case complete with her picture while the same day finds her present two kids missing!     Is she mental?   Is she a serial child killer or a victim of circumstance?   What the heck is going on?   The law and the town are closing in on her, she is freaking out!   Where are the children?????   A nail biter - this one.   I would recommend this book to middle-schoolers on up.   Learn to keep an eye on your little ones at all times - you never know what is in the mind of a person.

 - Shirley J.

Her One Mistake

Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks     320 pages

Charlotte, busy with her own children, was supposed to be looking after all of them, including Alice, her best friend Harriet's daughter.  Except, with all of the chaos of the school fair, Charlotte assumes everything is fine, seeing all of the kids go into a funhouse . . . and then Alice doesn't appear. Panicking and searching everywhere, Charlotte has to tell Harriet her only child is missing and accept the blame.

Harriet, completely devastated, shuns Charlotte entirely. Trying to keep her marriage together and hold out hope that Alice will be found, Harriet is starting to unravel. It doesn't help that the police keep questioning both women, trying to figure out just what happened to Alice.

As you can expect, dark secrets become exposed as the story continues. And, as you can also expect, Charlotte may be the one person who can help find Alice. I really, really liked this book and found it impossible to put down once I started reading. The pace ramps up as the story continues and you keep feeling like you've barely missed something, but you can tell something is definitely off with one of the characters.  And don't get me started on Harriet's husband --- I really did not like this guy and suspected he was up to something pretty quickly.  What I did not expect were a few of the twists and then a big reveal about 3/4 of the way through.  However, the mystery of what happened to Alice isn't revealed right away, so you have to keep reading and guessing.

Good pace, good character development, good story.

Bob

Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead, 199 pages

“Visiting her grandmother in Australia, Livy, ten, is reminded of the promise she made five years before to Bob, a strange, green creature who cannot recall who or what he is.” I loved this book.  It’s a perfect story for grade school kids who like fairy tales and fantasy.

The Night Season

The Night Season by Chelsea Cain                 Audio Book: 9 hours             Paperback Book:  400 pages                    

Another excellent murder mystery will lead investigator Archie Sheridan.    Chelsea Cain is excellent at creating stories and characters so real it is as if you are reading the inside scoop on current horrendous criminal cases.    Excellent character development.    It’s as though the reader is in the inner circle of the crime investigators both law and journalistic ones.   A real suck in your breath this is going to take you on a wild ride story.     Cain must do a lot of research because she gives details on important parts of the story that are extremely well developed and delectable tidbits that seriously make the story POP.   She is a master at that, and the reader will not only enjoy the story but will come away from each of her books having learned things about the law, medical procedures, forensics, and a multitude of other topics depending on where her stories take you.   I love learning things and each of her stories are so enjoyable from beginning to end that the reader will pick up so many new facts there will be dozens of new wrinkles in your brain by the time you complete one of her books.     This story concerns a massive flood breaking through the walls built to contain such occurrences and that is only the beginning.   You might want to pour yourself your hot drink of choice while reading this one because the rain and flooding described will actually make the reader feel chilled right along with the characters in the story.    So much action and surprises occur, floating skeletons, a child turning up that has been missing longer than statistically possible for him to still be alive,  lives being saved in raging torrents turned into rivers of debris, and a serial killer with an unusual hobby turned into weaponry.    The bodies mount pretty quickly in this one and it is a toss up if Archie is going to make it out alive or not.   I won’t spoil the story, but, if you are a murder mystery fan, this is truly the series for you.   This is my second and I am definetly going to try and read every title this gal has done.   Bravo, Chelsea Cain.    Another winner.

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine by Stephanie Tromly, 337 pages

Zoe is new in town.  When Digby shows up at her door, she thinks he’s weird and rude and wants to avoid him but Digby keeps showing up in her life and eventually drags her into hilariously dangerous situations while trying to find a teen that has been presumed kidnapped.  Digby thinks it may be related to his sister’s disappearance many years ago.  Despite Zoe’s initial dislike and reluctance to get involved she eventually finds herself inexplicably drawn to Digby and the trouble that surrounds him.  This book was funny and the story was awesome.  I didn’t have any problems with suspension of disbelief in the story, despite the improbability of some of it.  I would highly recommend this for many teens.

Foxglove Summer

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch.325 Pages  "When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved. It's purely routine--Nightingale, Peter's superior, thinks he'll be done in less than a day. But Peter's never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get. But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain's most junior wizard after all. Soon Peter's in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear...."  The series remains strong and leaves the reader waiting for the next book.  What I enjoy about the books is that the hero of the story doesn't go through beating after beating and yet overcome the odds.  Peter Grant just steadily does his job and sometimes he ends up on top and sometimes gets his heinie handed to him.

Weight of Blood

Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, 306 pages

This book came to me both highly recommended and from the best seller shelf so it had a lot to live up to. Not only was it able to live up to the hype but it is one of those books that sticks in your mind.

Weight of Blood takes place in the rural Ozark mountains here in Missouri. It is about a girl name Lucy and her mother Lila growing up a generation apart.

It is hard to go into any detail without giving anything away but this is a very intense novel. I would also highly recommend it.

The Stone Boy

The Stone Boy by Sophie Loubiere, 296 pages.


This book was suggested by a friend and after reading the hook, I was interested. The book is about a grandmother and former headmistress who having gone through a traumatic event has returned home. Left to her own devices and missing the children she used to teach she finds herself spending time watching the neighbors children. However she believes one of them is being abused and neglected, but is the child she is seeing real?

This book is definitely a thriller but I was left with mixed feelings with how it ended. Not only did it seem rushed but I felt it was very flat compared to the rest of the book. Looking back I remember a page, that if the book had ended there it would have left the readers stunned.

All The Truth That’s In Me

All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry                               
 274 pages

Judith and Lottie both disappeared and two years later Judith came back with her tongue cut out.  Unable to recount where she had been and what had happened to her, she was shunned by most of the town as cursed.  Everyone in town knew that Lottie had been killed and that the person who took Judith did it, but no one knew who that was.  Then the town was attacked and Judith found out that the town’s armory was gone and the people could not adequately arm themselves.  She realized that her captor had the town’s armory and went to enlist his help.  The man came and was killed in the fighting.  When the townspeople saw him they assumed that he was responsible for everything but also blamed his son, Lucas, because they thought he knew what had happened.  Judith always loved Lucas and couldn’t let him be falsely accused but didn’t know how to help because she was sure that no one would believe her story.  This was a good story that reads like a historical novel.  The setting and time isn’t completely clear but it isn’t in modern day America.  It’s also a little bit of a romance but that isn’t the main focus.  This is a true-to-life story about a girl finding her place in society.  Teens, especially girls, will probably like this story.

The Outcast Dead

The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths
374 Pages


There are two stories here, interweaving their theme of child minders.  First Ruth Galloway has uncovered the bones of what is believed to be an infamous Victorian murderess of children, Mother Hook.  At the same time a woman is charged with murder when her third child dies mysteriously.  As the police investigate this crime, Ruth is involved in the filming of her discovery for a series called "Women who Kill".  There may be evidence that Mother Hook was not guilty of the crimes she was hanged for and this theme is paralleled in the modern crime being investigated. 

When another child goes missing,  Ruth and the police race to find out the culprit before it is too late.

An easy-going mystery set in England.  The overall theme is the role of motherhood and childcare.